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Keigo Atobe
Keigo Atobe (跡部 景吾, Atobe Keigo) is a member and tennis captain of Hyōtei Gakuen. First introduced when trying to date Ann in an aggressive way, he takes in interest in Momoshiro of Seigaku and by extension, the Seigaku team itself. Background Atobe is the captain of Hyōtei, having defeated all of the members of the team during his first year. Along with Kunimitsu Tezuka of Seigaku, Kippei Tachibana of Fudomine, Genichirō Sanada and Seiichi Yukimura of Rikkaidai, Atobe is a "Zenkoku ku" (全国区 ?), which means a national level player. He defeated Seigaku's captain in his second year, a favor returned when Tezuka then beat Hyōtei's captain at the time. He is the son of a very rich family. He has rivalries with Tezuka, who he defeats in the Kantō Tournament, Sanada, who he comes close to defeating in a practice match before it is called off, and Ryoma, who defeats Atobe in the nationals. Hyōtei is one of the few schools in the series without a vice-captain, an indication of both Atobe's skill and leadership. There are several facts that may suggest Atobe is not entirely Japanese. He apparently grew up overseas, attending primary school in Britain along with Kabaji. Aside from his tennis club captaincy, Atobe is also student body president. He enjoys all subjects, especially Greek, and is a fan of the poetry of Goethe and Homer. It is also implied that he has an appreciation for classical composers such as Richard Wagner. Personality Atobe is severely narcissistic and arrogant, often using the quote "Be awed at the sight of my prowess!" ("Ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na" ,俺様の美技に酔いな?) used first after knocking out Tezuka's racket with his drive volley. He is very wealthy, and he owns various chateaus, mansions, and vehicles, which are often used to benefit his team. Despite his personality, he trains constantly and takes pride in his team. After losing to Ryoma in the nationals, he cuts his hair due to a bet, despite taking great pride in it, and later uses a wig to cover it. It is common knowledge within the series that he is fabulously wealthy, showing in some episodes his various chateaus and mansions. One mountain estate is the setting of the Seigaku training arc shown only in the anime, in which Hyōtei helps Seigaku prepare for its Kantō finals match with Rikkaidai. It is likely that the anime exaggerated his wealth, as he was shown to be progressively wealthier as the series goes on, to the extent that by the release of the mini-movie, he owns a huge blimp with a chibi replica of his own face on it, and enough funds to hold a convention in a gigantic, downtown stadium. However, the manga does depict him to own a helicopter. This doesn't mean, however, that Atobe is just a pampered, self-centered diva without real qualities backing him up. He's very proud of being on top of the Hyōtei team, and has earned his position through very hard work and real talent. He also truly appreciates the worth of both his teammates and rivals; this is shown when he stands up for fellow Hyōtei regular Ryō Shishido's plight in front of coach Sakaki, when he recognizes Tezuka's might after their duel (even lifting Tezuka's hand to show him as someone who had fought hard and also deserved praising), and when he speaks to Echizen after his fight with Tezuka in the American arc. Atobe also mentions that while he doesn't mind going easy on an opponent, he hates it when opponents go easy on him. He is rather generous and uses his allowance to buy things for his teammates. Furthermore, the aforementioned mini-movie (named "Atobe kara no Okurimono", roughly translated as "Atobe's mighty gift") shows that one of the reasons he had to hold the convention was to cheer up his childhood friend and partner Munehiro Kabaji, who was very depressed after the announcement of his beloved older sister's future marriage. He also claimed the date coincided with Kabaji's birthday, which Kabaji revealed to be a lie. Even the games have portrayed Atobe as more noble than one would expect; in the dating sim Gakuensai no Ōjisama, Atobe is enraged when the main character (default name, Shizuka Hirose) is attacked by his most rabid fangirls, and not only lectures the player for NOT telling him about the incidents, but he also protects her from such fans and, if certain in-game circumstances are met, in the end he announces that Shizuka will be his girlfriend in front of the whole school. In another dating sim, Doki Doki Survival - Umibe no Secret, Atobe is shocked when he's bitten by a poisonous snake and the main girl (default name, Ayaka Tsujimoto) attempts to help him by directly sucking out the toxins from his injury, scolding her as well for taking such a risk after they're taken to safety. One of Atobe's characteristic is the mole below his right eye, known as a "tear-mole". He has a character song about the mole being his charm-point called "The charm-point is the tear-mole" ("Chāmu Pointo ha Naki Hokuro" ,チャームポイントは泣きホクロ?), and coincidentally, the seiyū Junichi Suwabe also has a mole in the exact same position. Due to a bet Atobe made with Ryoma, in which the loser had to shave his own hair, he supposedly had his head shaved by Ryoma after losing consciousness (in the anime, Atobe chooses to shave his own hair after losing, taking the razor from Ryoma's hands). However, it is later revealed that Atobe did not get his head fully shaved, but rather just a short haircut. Shortly after, right before the National Finals, Atobe is shown with his normal haircut, which, according to Takeshi Konomi, is just a wig. Despite having lost to Seigaku twice, Atobe seems to accept his losses gracefully, not too bitter to aid his former opponents by going to search for the missing Ryoma with his own helicopter as Seigaku faces Rikkai in the Nationals finals. Tennis Style Atobe is considered the example of a perfect and complete all rounder as stated by Yamabuki's Sengoku showing Atobe's skills as a player. His tennis abilities are centered around his superior insight, which allows him to perceive his opponent's weaknesses and attack them. It is also revealed that his extremely defensive style is one he chose for himself, while his natural playing style is described as "ultra-offensive". Only Ryoma Echizen has managed to make him use his original style. Techniques Insight :Supposedly gifted with fantastic eyesight, Atobe uses this in Insight, a technique where he can quickly determine his opponent's weaknesses. He places his fingers between his widely opened eyes and laughs with a somewhat insane tone. :During the match against Tezuka, however, Atobe guesses wrongly that Tezuka's elbow is injured. Atobe's Insight is not limited to flaws, at least not in the anime; he sees Ryoma's "limitless potential" during a training session and beholds no imperfections in Sanada during the Junior Senbatsu (Junior Invitational). :In his singles 1 match against Seigaku's Ryoma Echizen during the quarter-finals of the Nationals, Atobe uses his insight to his full potential, to the point where he could anticipate the spin of the tennis ball by looking at the way his opponent hits it. He was then able to apply a counterspin on the ball so that it no longer returns to Ryoma when the latter used his own version of the Tezuka Zone. World of Ice (Kōri no Sekai, 氷の世界?) ''' : All tennis players possess one if not more blind spots from any given position. Atobe has evolved his Insight to such a level to a point where he is able to clearly discern these spots and is able hit balls with pinpoint accuracy and timing at these blind spots. : Kōri no Sekai was proved to have one weakness. During the match between Atobe and Ryoma, Ryoma emulated an incomplete version of his father's version of the Tezuka Zone through instinct and took control of the game. Atobe's World of Ice was weakened because the spins allowed by Ryoma's emulation of the Tezuka Zone caused Atobe's pinpoint returns to veer off course and out of Ryoma's blind spots. '''Atobe Kingdom : While the World of Ice is able to see through an opponent tennis player's blind spots, such blind spots are merely external and it can be covered up by methods such as the Tezuka zone to veer Atobe's shots away from the said blind spots, or a person can use his speed, flexibility, field of vision, and reaction time to erase their blind spots. : However, the human body itself have their own dead angles, which is known as the Zettai Shikaku (lit. Absolute Blind Spots), which are located in the joints that humans are unable to comform to because the skeletal structure can only move in certain ways regardless of one's flexibility or speed. Mastering his Insight even further during his Court Shuffle Match against Irie Kanata, Atobe is able to see through his opponent's skeletal structure and, by extension, see the opponent's Zettai Shikaku, and time his shots during the moments when the Zettai Shikaku acts up, able to hit the ball when the opponent is unable to move at all. Rondo Towards Destruction (Hametsu e no rondo ,破滅への輪舞曲?) ' : A two-part smash in which the first part loosens the opponent's grip on the racket while the follow-up smash is free to score. The first smash hits the opponent's wrist and knocks the racket out of the opponent's hand. As the ball bounces up from the force of impact, Atobe smashes it once again at the court to score the point. : Atobe is shown to have mastered the technique at the Junior Senbatsu Training Camp the year prior to his match against Tezuka, where he successfully scores a smash past four players using it. Rondo Towards Destruction is nullified by Tezuka, who does not loosen his grip on the first smash and is able to counterattack. The Rondo is also defeated by Billy Cassidy of the American team, who uses his Shotgun Volley to intercept the smash and return it directly. Ryoma was also shown to be able to overcome this smash in the anime with the same method used by Tezuka. '''Tango Towards Destruction (Hametsu e no Tango, anime only) ' :In the anime-only match against the American doubles pair Billy Cassidy and Michael Lee, Atobe develops his Rondo to work with his partner, Genichirō Sanada. Instead of completing the two-part smash himself, Atobe feints the second smash and allows Sanada to leap from behind to secure the point. 'Tannhauser Serve ' : When performed correctly, the technique does not allow the ball to bounce and makes the ball spin rapidly down the court, thus rendering it almost impossible to return. While no flaw is stated in the manga, in the anime, its flaw lies in that it places tremendous strain on the server's arm and shoulder. Atobe must exert enormous force in order for the move to come out correctly, thus he is slowly worn down during his serve due to the amount of spin and force required to hit this technique. : Also, in the anime, the serve was not fully seen until Atobe teams up with Sanada during the Goodwill Games with America against the Cassidy/Lee doubles pair, while in the manga, the Tannhauser Serve was first seen by another Hyōtei player, Oshitari Yūshi, who was able to see Atobe perform the serve during practice. Also in the anime, it is said that the Tannhauser serve is a serve version of Shūsuke Fuji's Tsubame Gaeshi, while in the manga, it is a version of Ryoma Echizen's COOL Drive. : In the manga and OVA, Atobe is able to return his own Tannhauser Serve when Ryoma copied it in Muga no Kyochi by using a high-level topspin rising shot using a footwork technique known as the Front Foot Hop. Tannhauser is the subject of a German legend as well as one of Wagner's lesser known operas. According to the anime, Atobe relates as he too is privileged, but has a heart that cannot be satisfied. '''Fugue Towards Destruction (Shitusi he no Fugue) :An advanced smash that combines the aspects of both Rondo Towards Destruction and the Tannhauser Serve, Atobe first knocks out the opponent's racket with a normal smash, and then he hits a smash version of his Tannhauser Serve, hitting a smash that functions like Ryoma's COOL Drive: the ball is given an irregular spin where it rolls on the ground instead of bouncing, due to the enormous sidespin that was used. : This technique was first seen in the U-17 Court Shuffle Singles 1 Match, where Atobe plays against Irie Kanata, where he first showed this technique. Furthermore, he was shown the capability to fake both smashes as a drop shot, but was able to fake his drop shot fake into a smash, being able to perform 2 feints as well as being able to hit both smashes after rotating 360 degrees. Jack Knife ''' : The Jack Knife is a fast, sharp and powerful high-leveled backhand shot made by using the front foot to jump into the air with balance while utilizing the weight of the body to achieve maximum strength. It is noted that the Jack Knife is a move no ordinary junior high student can do; only professionals are able to use the move successfully. Atobe first uses it in his match against Tezuka. '''Viking Horn :A powerful shot that first seems to go either left or right and then flies at the opposite side due to holding the racket at a reverse grip and throwing off the opponent's timing.. Atobe can only use this technique when he is holding his racket backwards. He learns this shot from watching Yūjirou Kai of Higa Chuu play against Kikumaru Eiji. Higuma Otoshi (羆落とし, trans. "Bear Drop") : In his Nationals match against Ryoma, Atobe demonstrates his ability to use Higuma Otoshi, one of Shūsuke Fuji's Triple Counters. By quickly rotating his body, Atobe uses centrifugal force to absorb the force of any overhead smash; he then returns the ball with a lob that almost always lands on the opponent's baseline. In the manga, Atobe's Higuma Otoshi is strong enough to absorb Sanada's "Ka" (which was copied by Ryoma in Muga no Kyōchi, so Ryoma's "Ka" could have been weaker than Sanada's). Trivia *Atobe mostly uses a Head brand, as he wears a C,Tech 100 OM model shoes by Head and a PREMIER TOUR 600 racquet. *Atobe mostly enjoys fly-fishing and reading, mostly Shakespeare. He also enjoys listening to classical music, which happens to be his favorite genre, and watching European films. His favorite colors are also black and gold. *Atobe is the only child in his family. His known relatives are his grandparents and his parents. His father is also a director. *Atobe mostly frequents in his special sofa in the student council office and the chairman's chambers office. His favorite date spot is, as expected, cruising the southern isles. *He happens to drink non-alcoholic champagne in his bath every day, and is skilled at both fencing and ballroom dancing. He also wishes for a new tennis court. *His motto is: "Adel sitzt im Gemüt, nicht im Geblüt." ("Nobility resides in the mind, not in the blood") *Atobe seems to dislike anthropods, as he states, "in the beginning, it was arnthropods... and then he made a pun with the word and related arnthropods with Oshitari." *Atobe's perferred type is strong-willed types of girls, which fits Tachibana Ann as Atobe tried to date her. *His color scheme in the anime is different to that of the manga. He is depicted with blond hair and blue eyes while the anime shows him with purple/grey hair and black eyes. However he has red hair in the New Prince of Tennis manga *In a bonus chapter in the sequel New Prince of Tennis he is shown to have at least 4 maids and 1 butler named Michael. *His seiyū is Junichi Suwabe, in Musical he is played by Katō Kazuki, Yuki Kubota and by Masahiro Inoue. In live action he is portrayed by Ryūji Sainei. Category: Characters Category:Tennis Player Category:Hyotei Tennis Club Member